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Couple feared jumping to escape burning Perth flat

Catriona Renton and James Delaney
BBC Scotland News
BBC Ellen Fulton, left, staring right at the camera. She has fair hair which is being blown by the wind. She is wearing a black vest top and has the straps of a multi-coloured backpack around her shoulders. Kieran Gibson is on the right. He has a beard and is wearing a khaki-coloured baseball cap. He is wearing a white t-shirt and has the straps of a bag, which are khaki and orange coloured around his shoulders.BBC
Kieran Gibson and Ellen Fulton raised the alarm after the fire broke out at the block in Perth city centre

A couple whose flat was destroyed in a fatal tenement fire in Perth said they considered "jumping out the building" to escape the blaze.

Kieran Gibson and partner Ellen Fulton had not long moved in together when they lost nearly all their belongings in the blaze on the corner of Scott Street and South Street.

Mr Gibson, 30, said he could hear the "sounds of the ceiling coming down" after they dialled 999 in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A man died and several others, including an eight-year-old girl, were injured in the fire. Two firefighters, one of whom was struck by falling masonry, were given medical treatment.

Mr Gibson said he and Ms Fulton, 31, were woken shortly before 02:00 to the sound of their smoke alarm.

The couple lived on the third floor, one below the top which has been completely destroyed.

Mr Gibson said he opened the door to the tenement hallway, at which point smoke came billowing into the flat.

He called the emergency services and said Ms Fulton was "screaming for help" out of the bedroom window.

Fire crews arrived a short time later, but Mr Gibson admitted he was worried about being forced into a life or death choice.

He said: "At one point, I was trying to work out whether it would be better to jump out the building and take our risk that way or get burned to death.

"If you're with your partner, your only thing is 'how do I get this person out safely?'

"The whole time all we could hear was the sound of our ceilings and our roofs caving in behind us."

He added: "We just didn't want to look back. The smell was just awful and the sounds were just horrific."

Stuart Cowper A fire at a block of flats in Perth. The flames are orange and coming out the top of the building. Stuart Cowper
The fire tore through the top of the tenement block in the early hours of Saturday

The couple were rescued from the flat about 25 minutes after making the initial emergency call.

Mr Gibson, who had lived in the flat for years before Ms Fulton recently moved in, said they had yet to take out contents insurance on the rented property.

He said the vast majority of their possessions had been lost, but they were unsure of the scale of the damage.

He added they had only been able to leave with what they could gather from the bedroom and were temporarily staying with family.

About 40 other residents in the area were evacuated, with some staying at the nearby Salutation Hotel, which is being used a respite centre.

Mr Gibson credited Tayside fire and rescue's blue response team for saving their lives and praised the call handler's response as "spectacular".

A police cordon on the street in Perth. A police officer in a hi-viz vest is speaking to a man in a dark jacket and jeans. They are standing in front of a strip of police tape.
The street remains closed while police investigate the fire

Police Scotland are investigating the incident.

Drivers and pedestrians have been urged to stay away from the area, while a temporary airspace restriction has been put in place until 13:00 on Wednesday to prevent drones from flying overhead.

Crews from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service worked through the night into Saturday morning to extinguish the flames.

They left the scene early on Sunday afternoon but a team was scheduled to carry out a reinspection at about 17:00.

Both Scott Street and South Street remain closed to traffic.